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LUPUTTEH AUG 11' '|868 ins mms Firms co. Fumo-Luna, wAsHmmoN, u c.

@eine tateo ateut @fitte Letters Patent No. 80,999, dated August 11,1868.

IMPROl-BD METHOD 0F PORMING STOGKINGS..

dige .Srte'mde referat 'tu in ipse gtrtlers nut :nur mating mrt nf iintame.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONOERN:

Be it known that I, ELAM O. POTTER, otrChicopcc, in theeounty ofHampden, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new andimproved Stocking; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, and tothe'letters of reference marked thereon, in whieh- Elgin-e1 is a. plan view of the knitted fabric, from which the stocking is made, inlthe'condition in which it leaves the knitting-machine, and

Figure 2 is a viewiof a completed stocking as formed by my method fromthepart shown in iig. 1.

My invention is designed to be applied tothe manufacture of hosiery inlarge quantities in manufaotories of such goodsQand enables meto makethe same wholly by knitting-machines and sewing-machines, and todispense with the labor and unevenness of handvsewing or vcroeheting thediierent parts of the leg together, and to form a seam which can hardlybe distinguished from the texture of the knitted work, and is as'elasticand yielding at the line of joining as at any other part. 4

The method-of forming said stocking is as follows: The part shown in iv.1, whieh,1l will denominate the web, is formed in a knitting-machine,the work'beihg'begnn at'thepointcl of thetoe, andknitted, in a conicaltubular form, to the line a c, -thus forming the forward part of thefoot. -f'lhe machine is then'adjuste'd to knit `flat work, or the workalready done is transferred to a machine which is' kept adjusted for Hatwork, and-a. iiat web, B- A, isV then formed, the width of 'which willbe about o`ne-half the circumference of the-tubular part at n e. Y'Thelength of this flat web is somewhat greater thanA twice the length ofthe proposed legali/ove the line a c, enough extra length being allowedto give materia-lier the heel of the stocking. Theti'ibular part may beknit plain, and the Hat web of ribbed work, so as to produce an elasticleg, or both'niay be of the same texture, and the web may be ofvarying'width, so as to shape the leg -in any desired form. 'vlhc web isnow ready to be cut across at the line'mm, and transferred to thesewing-machine. The partAwill then be applied to the remainder of theweb, being'turned down, so that the upper end, as seen. in g. 1, willfall at the heel. The edges being thus made to correspond, andthe iightsides (or outside, when nished,) being faced together, a seam is sewedin the coinciding edges, in the linem ce, on each side of the leg,andalso from of, thus closing the leg and the bottom of the heel, andbringing the stocking into the shape shown in fig. 2. This sewin is tobe performed by'means of a single-thread sewing-machine, which isthreaded with yarn of the same kind as the'web is formed from, be itwoollen, cotton, silk, or worsted.

As thc usual chain-stitch, formed by a single-thread sewing-machine,constitutes a stitch similar t'o a commen knitting-stitch, one loopbeing drawn through the previous loop in both cases, the seam formed insewing the part A to the part B can hardly be discovered inthe completedstocking, when the proper yarn is used in sewing, and being equallyelastic and yielding at the line of joining as at rany other point, therigid welt or searnfound in some sewed hosiery is avoided.` l l Thestocking thus formed is a' close imitation of a hand-knit stocking madein one piece, and is a porteet substitute therefor, in point ofdurability and comfort, while it can be `manufactured.ofthe samequantity of yarn, and at a much less cost.

i By the process above described, the labor of makinghosicry canbesubdivided and apportioned, so as to allow a thorough division oflabor, and employ all the machinery to the best advantage, and upon thatdistinct portion of the work for which it is adjusted.

I am aware that stockings have heretofore becnmade by euttingportionsfrom a continuous tubularweb, and sewing the same together by hand,making certain seams in the'feet, between tho quarters and the vamp, andalso at the back side of the leg, and do not desire to claim stockingsso-made as of my invention.

IIaving described -my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

As an article 'of manufacture, a stocking formed substantially asdescribed, and havingtho side seams m e e machine-sewed, substantiallyas described. I l

In witness whereof, I havo hereunto set my hand, this 12th day of June,A. D. 1868.

ELAM O. POTTER.

Witnesses:

J. P. BUGKLAND, E. J, SOMMER.

